11/25/2018 1 Comment Pansies Planted … Garden Update I planted 80 Matrix Pansies today. I bought them from Cornelius Nursery which was acquired by Calloway's Nursery several years ago. My understanding is that Calloway's Nursery was started in the Dallas metro area by ex Wolfe Nursery employees. My first job growing up in Dallas (while in High School) was at the former Wolfe Nursery location on Coit Road near the Central Expressway. Could that be why I like gardening so much? Anyway, it's a little late to be planning Pansies. It's apparently better to plant them in late October so they have more time to develop their root systems before we get cold snaps like Nov 13-15 this year. I did sprinkle 4 lbs of Calloway's Pansy Food which has a 7-11-7 formulation when I planted them. There was some damage from the light freeze of Nov 13-15 (lows of 32, 31 & 32) as can be seen below to the Zinnias & Vinca in the bed now occupied by the Pansies. Also, Sweet Potato Vines are very susceptible to even the slightest freeze. However, they are related to the potato family and will sprout up from their roots when warmer weather returns in the spring! The fall garden continues to thrive as you can see from the pics below. The lettuce is doing great … didn't mind the cool weather one bit! I'm starting to give away lettuce to neighbors, friends at church and folks at work. The Yolo Wonder Bell Peppers didn't like the light freeze … but came through ok as none of the peppers were damaged … several plants are still blooming which could mean additional peppers in the near future … assuming of course we don't get a hard freeze in December. About half of the Euryops have died … but one has cute little yellow blooms on it. Most of the Coral Bells also bit the dust … but the one pictured below looks healthy and has beautiful coloring.
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11/4/2018 1 Comment Fall Transition Now Complete!All the hard work in previous months: Lettuce Seeds planted on Aug 27 & Sep 20 indoors under grow lights … Transplanting of lettuce seedlings into the garden on Sep 27, Oct 15 & Oct 20 … have resulted in four beds of lettuce … the one in the foreground producing the lettuce picked on the right for an evening salad! All this and the Bell Peppers are still producing as you can see below on the left. I did pick all the Jalapeno Peppers (see pic on lower right below) on 10-22-18 from the 3 plants which were over 5 feet tall. Now when you plant 7 different varieties of lettuce, it's not so easy to identify the exact variety planted … unless you keep meticulous records (which I don't). This isn't helped when you buy say a seed packet labeled Looseleaf Blend and the seeds which sprout aren't exactly the seeds listed as the 5 options per the packaging. Take for example, the following 6 Looseleaf Blend lettuce plants pictured below. The seed packet lists 300 seeds for 5 different varieties of lettuce. I was able to identify the four varieties shown below: But what about that fifth variety ... Black Seeded Simpson … which one of the two below is it? … they don't look like the same variety of lettuce ... do they? Also, the sample pics on the Burpee website aren't always that helpful anyway. The problems of maintaining a home vegetable garden! I also started some Sun King Broccoli seeds on Sep 20 indoors. I transplanted them into the garden on Oct 21. So they have been in the ground about 10 days in the pics below. It will probably be mid January before I have broccoli to pick. Broccoli does great during Houston winters. Have had wonderful success in past years. Other varieties of lettuce planted include Four Seasons, Green Ice, Antares, Sunset & Green Frills Hybrid. Hopefully as the lettuce grows it will be easier to identify all five varieties. Here is my best guess so far. Switching gears to the front yard … those Ageratum seeds I transplanted about 45 days ago have been growing very slowly … but what is forming the top middle stem if you look more closely? Last but not least, the two large pots of Hibiscus are still producing beautiful flowers … should do so until the first frost … Hibiscus won't survive Houston winters … too sensitive to cold! I'll put in new plants next March! Almost forgot, I took out the purple Sweet Potato Vines under the Crepe Myrtles. They had overwhelmed the green Sweet Potato Vines. Then I added some Gold Bar Miscanthus with its beautiful striped foliage and some Purple Fountain Grass to divide the green from the remaining purple Sweet Potato Vines as show below.
9/29/2018 0 Comments Fall Transition ContinuesOn 09-27-18, I transplanted Four Seasons, Looseleaf Blend & Salad Bowl lettuce from the seed starting containers to the garden. The following day Simpson Elite and Anatares lettuce was transplanted. High temps the last several days have been in the upper 80s and the lettuce seems to be making the transition outside. See pics below. Next up to transplant will be Ageratum which will go into a South facing bed out front. Not an ideal time to plant. Basically, I'm experimenting with the seeds from the purple flowers which I intend to save this fall & germinate inside next spring & set out in early April. The lettuce and broccoli seeds from Burpee came in along with three 24 cell Gardener's Supply GrowEase Seed Starter Kits. On 09-20-18, I planted 24 Sun King broccoli and 8 Red Salad Bowl, Sunset, Looseleaf Blend, Curly Oakleaf, Green Frills Hybrid & Flying Red Saucer (8 x 6 = 48 cells) lettuce. Everything has come up except the Flying Red Saucer lettuce. Planting 2018 seeds makes a big difference! See below for more pics from the garden. 9/9/2018 0 Comments Beginning Fall TransitionWe began the fall transition by removing the 30% shade cloth over the Bell Peppers since temps are forecast to stay below 90 degrees, the cut-off point where exposed Bell Peppers develop soft spots from the sun. Another round of White Wedding Zinnia seedlings (volunteers from fallen summer flowers) have begun to bloom with more seedlings sprouting each day. Vinca seedlings have also sprouted and are starting to bloom. Planting 2017 lettuce seedlings under grow lights has turned out to be mixed bag so far. The Four Seasons & Salad Bowl seeds have sprouted … no Yugoslavian Red & Red Salad Bowl seeds sprouted … a few seeds for the other varieties have sprouted … In response, I have ordered 2018 lettuce seeds from Burpee … along with three 24 hole seed starting kits and a Stack N Grow expansion add on grow light kit from Gardeners Supply.
Some pretty yellow & pink Gerbera Daisy blooms this week. Many more to follow once temperatures moderate. Gerbera Daisy blooms last 5 to 7 days … unlike Daylily & Hibiscus blooms which last just one day. 8/31/2018 0 Comments Ageratum & Lettuce PlantedOn Aug 27 I transplanted 48 Ageratum seedlings into Styrofoam seed starters. You can't find these anymore which is a shame. In 3 or 4 weeks, I will push up through the bottom holes in the Styrofoam to easily remove the young plants and transplant them into the garden.
I also planted seeds for 10 varieties of Burpee lettuce: Yugoslavian Red, Four Seasons, Green Ice, Red Salad Bowl, Simpson Elite, Antares, Salad Bowl, Baby Leaf Blend (Red Oak Leaf Lunavia, Green Oak Leaf Kinevia), Green Romaine Danteria , Red Romaine Diveria), Braveheart and Loose Leaf Blend (Black Seeded Simpson, Lollo Rossa, Red Salad Bowl, Royal Oak Leaf & Salad Bowl). Four Seasons is the first of the lettuce to sprout after only 3 days under the grow lights. |